


An Exchange for Safe Passage.

by Aaronlisa



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: F/M, Rewrite, Season/Series 02, probably a little bit of dubcon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-13 21:02:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16479710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaronlisa/pseuds/Aaronlisa
Summary: Willow's caught out in the rain by Angelus and things don't go quite the way she thought that they would.





	An Exchange for Safe Passage.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a rewrite of an older fic of mine called "Bargaining" that I wrote back in June 2006. The prompt was from au100 and was rain.

Willow Rosenberg does not consider herself to be a stupid girl. Instead she prides herself on being the opposite of a stupid girl. However as she looks up at the clock on the wall, she has to question her so-called intelligence. If she recalls correctly, she has about thirty minutes or so to get home before sunset. She quickly shuts off the computer and shoves her things into her bag. It's imperative that she gets home before sunset. 

She thinks that she's doing good for time right up until the rainstorm catches her off-guard when she's made it halfway home. There's something about the storm that doesn't seem right and she can't quite figure out what it is. The rain comes pelting down and she can barely see anything in front of her. She shivers as she becomes soaked. Willow clutches the strap of her bag tightly as she tries to make her way home through the deserted streets. She decides to run in an attempt to get out of the rain and to find the safety of her house. 

Before she knows it, she's colliding into something. She's dazed momentarily as hands grip her biceps. As she looks up to see who she has run into, she sees Angelus' face. He's smirking down at her and she feels like she's somehow found herself in one of the cheesy horror movies that Jesse and Xander used to make her watch. She gasps as he takes in his cold and soulless eyes and the cruel smirk carving his lips upward. And she knows that this isn't some nightmare, that this is real life. 

"Well hello there," Angelus greets her. 

"P-please," Willow stammers as she shivers from the cold and wet. 

He looks down at her and his hands tighten around her biceps. She knows that he's enjoying this. 

"Please what?" Angelus asks her. 

For a second, she's not sure what she wants. Does she want him to let her go? Even though she knows that won't happen. She's read his history in the Watchers' Diaries. She knows what he's capable of and mercy would be one of those things that he's not capable of. Does she want him to just end her misery quickly so that she doesn't have to suffer torture? 

"L-let me go?" Willow quietly asks him. 

In the end, she's still full of hope and life. She can't ask him the unthinkable without at least trying. 

"And why should I do that, darlin'?" 

"Because I am too young to die," Willow blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. 

Internally she scoffs at herself. As if Angelus would let her go because she's too young to die. In fact there's a very rational part of her mind that's telling her that she's probably the perfect age for Angelus to toy with and then turn into a monster like he is. 

"And what will you give me in return?" 

His voice is oddly gentle and for a moment, she can almost believe that he's entertaining the idea of releasing her. And then that coldly rational part of her mind, points out that Angelus likes to play with his prey. That he enjoys breaking people before rebuilding them. Look at Drusilla. She shivers. 

"Wh-what do you want?" Willow tries to keep her fear out of her voice. 

"A lot of things, pretty little girl, but I don't think you're quite ready to give me all of the things that I want, quite yet," Angelus tells her. 

His hands seem to become gentle even as he still holds her biceps as he pulls her a little closer to him. She looks up at him in mute terror and this time she can't stop her body from trembling in terror and not from the cold. There are so many things that his implied threat could mean and she doesn't want any of them to happen to her. She knows that if Buffy was in her place, the Slayer would contradict Angelus and talk a big game about how Angelus is wrong. But Willow's not Buffy and she's not foolish to contradict him no matter how he's acting. In the end if she even gives in to half of what she suspects is on his mind, she'll wind up wishing she were dead. 

She casts her gaze downward and tries to mentally prepare herself for his deadly bite. And then Angelus speaks again and shocks her with his casual tone. 

"But I'm willing to make an exception this time." 

"You are?" Willow asks as her head snaps up so that her eyes meet his. 

The brown eyes that she still associates with Angel flash a yellow colour and she's almost taken back. Her mind screams that this is a trick. He's trying to lull her into a false sense of security. But something in her remains hopeful that she will survive this encounter. 

"Yes Willow, I am," Angelus purrs at her. 

"Wh-what do you want?" Willow nervously asks. 

"A kiss." 

"What?" Willow asks, confused by his request. 

"You heard me, little girl, don't play coy," Angelus snarls at her. "Are we agreed then? Your safe passage in exchange for a kiss?" 

"Y-yes." 

She can't believe that she's just agreed to kiss him. When he was Angel, there had been a very small part of her that had been jealous of Buffy and had wondered what it was like to kiss Angel. A very small part of her. One that had gone away when Angelus had grabbed in the hall to announce that Angel was gone. When she shivers this time, it's not just from the cold, damp or fear. Apparently that small part of her wasn't as gone as she thought it was. 

"Good," Angelus smiles down at her. 

He pulls her even closer to her and she can't help the way that her tummy flutters in a bad case of nerves. She's maybe kissed two boys before now and even knowing _what_ Angelus is, she can't deny the rush of desire and nerves when he looks down at her with eyes tinged with gold. His lips curve up into a smile and she forgets who he is. 

"Aren't you going to kiss me?" Angelus quietly asks her. 

"Me?" Willow dumbly asks. 

"Yes, that's what we agreed on. You giving me a kiss to get home safely." 

"Oh," Willow exclaims. 

She moves her hands so that they are resting on his arms. He leans down just enough so that she just has to stand slightly on tiptoe to kiss him. She brushes a chaste kiss against his lips. As she goes to pull away, he softly growls at her. And she knows that he doesn't want a chaste barely there brushing of her lips against his. As she presses her lips against his again, she's not sure what to do. 

Thankfully he does and his tongue gently touches her lips, tracing them, as he moves his hands form her arms to embrace her. She gasps and he takes advantage. She knows that the kiss is dangerous as he takes control. It's soft and gentle and it's everything that she's dreamt about. It leaves her wanting more than just a simple caress of his tongue against her own. He pulls away from her and she's confused. 

"A bargain is a bargain," Angelus tells her with a hint of a smirk on his lips. 

"Wh-what?" Willow asks. 

"You gave me a kiss for your safe passage," Angelus explains. "Although I'd love to taste all that you're offering me, this is neither the time nor the place."

"Oh," Willow breathes in response. 

Angelus moves them so that they're standing beside one another. There's something surreal about the whole moment as he drapes his heavy coat over her shoulders before he loops her arm through his as if he's nothing more than a suitor for her attentions. He's acting like an old-fashioned gentleman out of one of her mother's romance novels. The ones that Sheila Rosenberg hides from her daughter because they go against the feminism that she's trying to teach her daughter. 

He guides her through the rainy streets straight to her door. He patiently waits for her to unlock the door and when she fumbles with her keys and the lock, he gently takes her keys from and unlocks them before pushing the door open. Willow is surprised when he allows her to walk through it. They both know there's a spell in place to keep him out. She feels safe momentarily until his face changes into that of the demon. He smirks at her as her terror rises again.

"I'll be back for you darlin' once I take care of my unfinished business," Angelus tells her. 

She shivers at his promise. They both know that his unfinished business is Buffy and waves of guilt crash over her. She can't believe what she's just done to her best friend. 

"And don't fret, when I come back, I won't be leaving you unfulfilled. I will take more than just a kiss." 

He turns on his heel and disappears into the rain and night. She doesn't doubt his promise to her. As she closes and locks the door, Willow tries to figure out how can she make sure that Buffy wins the final fight with Angelus. Right now, she's safe as long as he is content to toy with Buffy, to make the Slayer pay for whatever it is he holds her at fault for. But Willow knows that for Angelus there's only one acceptable outcome to the sick and twisted game he's playing. 

She's learned far too late that one should never bargain with the devil. A kiss for safe passage had seemed a safe thing to agree on but that kiss had only interested him more and by agreeing to it, Willow realizes that she's lost any chance of a quick and mostly painless death by agreeing to it. She sinks to the floor, his coat still wrapped around her shoulder, as she sobs in fear. 

((END))


End file.
